The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981)

Costume Design by: Dee Robson ( notable efforts: Moonbase 3 (1973), Blake's 7 (Series 3, 1980), Doctor Who 'Arc of Infinity' & 'Terminus' (1983) )

Douglas Adams’ most famous work was adapted for television by the BBC in 1981, and for roughly six episodes in total – as such, the show had a pretty small budget and only a select few costumes were designed for the show in total (it helped that Arthur and Ford are in contemporary Earth clothes as well), but there's still an adherence to a science fiction aesthetic. The most recognisable of the futuristic outfits is the double-headed, triple-armed Zaphod Beeblebrox (Mark Wing-Davey), the brief President of the Galaxy and ‘Worst Dressed Sentient Being in the Known Universe’ with his purple jacket, orange trousers and striped jumper. Of note is how the jacket has is patterned in the design of a computer chip, fitting in with the scifi motif.

With Zaphod is Trilian (Sandra Dickinson) who technically has the most outfits in the series, though most of them are spins on the same basic design, the top always remains the same throughout meaning only the bottom half is changed – first there are no leggings, then its cut like a dress, then there are leggings, though at all times she has the same snazzy yellow-lined boots. When going out on the surface of Magrathea, she sports a red translucent red top over it.

The various thinkers who created the supercomputer Deep Thought are in a number of outfits. My personal favorites have to be the silver togas fitted with neckpieces made up of pointed metal fragments.

The second last episode of the series feature the cast ending up in Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, whose host, Max Quordlepleen (Colin Jeavons) is in an outfit of purple and gold, with his suit fitted with a pointed collar. Also appearing in various episodes is the reporter of the galactic news, who is always in a white shirt with silver bolt-like markings on each side.

Also at Milliways is the deceased (for tax reasons) space singer Hotblack Desiato, in a lurid blue and silver ‘armor’ outfit – his bodyguard is just in stereotypical gangster getup, so not worth including here.

One other notable outfit that gets only very little screentime is the armored uniform of the Vl'Hurg species, who wears translucent armor pieces, a red leather cape and shorts and a rather imposing mask that feels sightly inspired by the 'Sutton Hoo helmet', which costume designer Dee Robson had previously used as inspiration for the Vanir armor in the Doctor Who serial 'Terminus'. Similar abstract helmets are worn by the Norse gods briefly seen in Milliways.

There are also the endearingly cheesy golden outfits worn by the ancient Galactic explorers, dressed in a classic parody of 'Golden Age' science-fiction garb with a sun motif emblazoned on the front.

Lastly are the useless middlemen of the Golgafrinchans, who crash land on a prehistoric Earth and set up the human species as the bureaucratic mess it is now - the Golgafrinchans are dressed in a variety of futuristic wear such as the asymmetrical zip-up suit worn by another useless white collar midde management type.

Blake's 7 - Series 3 (1980)

Costume Design by:

- Dee Robson ( notable efforts: Moonbase 3 (1973), Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981), Doctor Who 'Arc of Infinity' & 'Terminus' (1983) )

- Nicholas Rocker ( notable efforts: Twiggy (1975), The Musical Time Machine (1975 - 1977), Orion (1977) )

Note: Dee Robson did all of the episodes until 'Sarcophagus', after which Nicholas Rocker did the remaining episodes (though Rocker also did 'The Harvest of Kairos' as well).

'Aftermath'

The first episode of the third series introduced the new character of Dayna (Josette Simon), as well as former Federation officer Tarrant (Steven Pacey) - Dayna in particular was intended as a warror-hunter type, so in this episode is first seen wearing a toga with silver and blue lining around the diagonal collar and cuff.

When returning to her father's base, Dayna then sports a cream jumpsuit that also has a diagonal cut to the collar, exposing one arm and shoulder.

When un Dayna's residence, Avon gets to wear some of the clothing which includes this wraparound tunic with large pointed collars and puffy sleeves - sadly never seen fully onscreen.

Servalan meanwhile wears perhaps the clunkiest outfit she has ever worn - a lilac gown with stiff, asymmetrical cuts around the collar, which is very unusual for Servalan to be an outfit that is this unflattering to her!

It should be worth noting that Dayna's residence is actually owned by her father Hal (Cy Grant) who sports a blue jumpsuit with very stiff shoulders - it's the glasses that really complete the look, though!

It is Dayna's adopted sister Lauren (Sally Harrison) who wears the most colourful outfit in this episode, which is a lovely dress of silver and pink stripes, with pointed pink shoulders.

Much less colourful are the tribal natives of the planet, who wear padded leather armor and rather brutal looking spiked helmets.

'Powerplay'

Vila ends up on the planet Chenga, whose natives all wear colourful patterned garb seemingly inspired by Mesoamerican cultural garb - big fan especially of the hat worn by the bearded tribesman!

The primitives live in fear of the 'Hitechs', who kidnap them to be used as live organ donors - the Hitechs wear black bodysuits with leather sleeves and leggings, worn with flowing capes and very 'space age' helmets that have two bulbous red globes on them.

'Volcano'

In this episode, Avon sports a black tunic fixed with leather panelling down the front, as well as over the shoulders, completed with leather cuffs as well - this would be the season that would cement the association between Avon's attire and the colour black, especially in the later episodes.

Dayna also sports a very charming costume here, consisting of a pink jumpsuit exposing the shoulders with ruffles down the legs, worn with a see-through plastic bolera jacket over it - Dayna would wear several such jumpsuits over the course of this season (you can also spy Tarrant's frilly shirt and studded tunic as well in these screenshots).

Servalan's costume in this episode is probably one of the most obviously futuristic she wore in the series, wearing a white tunic fixed with curved grey padding around the waist as well as shoulders, worn over a white skirt.

The episode was set on the aptly-named volcanic planet Obsidian, whose resident all wear white tunics with a large ridged panel going over the shoulder and tapering towards the waist, worn over a coloured belt made out of a stony material - probably keeping in with the name of their planet of residence, considering 'obsidian' is a shiny black glass.

'Dawn of the Gods'

In this episode Cally sports a grey pantsuit with black flame-like markings over the jacket's front and shoulders - you can probably also spy the blue jumpsuit sported by Dayna, wnich never really gets a full shot sadly.

Dayna sports a blue jumpsuit with large shoulders and a hole cut in the chest, though sadly this is never fully seen onscreen.

Tarrant also sports a new outfit, this one being a green and black studded tunic with pointed shoulders, worn over a green frilly shirt in this episode but then worn over a black jumper in its next appearance in 'Moloch' - noticeably, some of Tarrant's outfits feel similar in design to Blake's in the previous two seasons, with both their colourscheme and rather medieval design.

Vila also briefly dons a spacesuit of a rather charming golden colour, worn with a 'fishbowl' helmet as well.

'The Harvet of Kairos'

Avon in this episode sports a rather uncharistically drab outfit, a set of fatigues made out of a two-tone muted green fabric with lighter panels around the shoulders and straps going down over them and the shoulders.

Tarrant in this episode meanwhile wears another rather uncharacteristic costume, consisting of a beige jumpsuit with brown stripes over the front and back, with pointed shoulders and ridges on the shoulders.

Dayna in this episode a rather garish blue jumpsuit with golden trim around the shoulders and cuffs, worn with golden shoes.

Also of note is Cally's outfit which is a red and white tunic worn over beige trousers and boots.

Servalan sports a rather lovely, though not terribly futuristic white dress exposing one side of the shoulders, with a large lave fan worn on one side as well.

Servalan is assisted by the Federation official Dastor (Frank Gatliff), who sports a black wraparound tunic worn with a cloak fitted with large rounded shoulders - these sort of shoulders would be a mainstay of Rocker's designs throughout both this series and the next.

Also of note is the overalls of Jarvik (Andrew Burt) which are fitted with blue padding around the shoulders, as well as a deep v-neck collar with large lapels.

In this episode, Servalan is protected by a platoon of elite guards who wear shiny black uniforms fitted with red cuffs and collar, as well as white panelling over the shoulders adorned with futuristic tubing, these uniforms also being worn with rounded helmets - these costumes would be reused again in the next series' episode 'Sand'.

'City at the Edge of the World'

Avon wears a muted olive-grey tunic fitted with shiny grey panelling over the shoulders that goes down to the sleeves, with a black chevron marking going over the front and back.

Tarrant wears another slightly 'swashbuckler' looking tunic, this one being black with vinyl strips over it, worn over a frilly blue shirt.

There is also this diagonally cut red and black jumpsuit Dayna wears, which only gets very little decent shots in this episode sadly.

Cally in this episode wears a pale cream jacket and trousers, the jacket having purple panelling around the shoulders.

This episode involved the Liberator's crew getting tangled with the ruthless Bayban (Colin Baker) and his gang, who are all clad in shiny gunmetal coloured uniforms fitted with large studded round collars, Bayban only distinguished by having a skull fitted on his collar. The only unique uniform among his crew is worn by Kerril (Carol Hawkins) who insteafd has studded shoulders rather than a collar.

'Children of Auron'

In this episode, which was set on Cally's homeworld of Auron, Avon goes black to wearing black, sporting a black tunic with a grey v-shape panel going tapering down from the shoulders, with black vinyl trips over the collar and cuffs as well.

Cally sports an outfit similar in design to Avon's, only her uniform is made of a dark purple fabric with a blue chevron going over the front instead.

Dayna meanwhile sports a maroon jumpsuit with the back exposed, worn with golden sandals (and briefly with a translucent top once again).

Servalan would also start wearing black from this episode onwards, where she sports a black dress with a ruffled cut top that also exposes one of the shoulders.

The crew staffing the Auron traffic control centres are in a variety of grey tunics with padded blue lining around the shoulders and cuffs, some of the jackets being double-breasted.

'Rumours of Death'

In this episode Cally sports a two-tone blue tunic with white lining around the shoulders and collar, worn with blue trousers - Cally's outfits in this series definitely feel a tad random in their design sense compared to either previous series or the rest of the cast!

Servalan gets to wear another dress with a little white on it, but is still predominantly black, with a lovely pearly segment over the chest especially - like most of Servalan's dresses this has a rather asymmetrical cut at the top with the shoulders and sleeves, with one arm being the sleeved and the other bare.

There are several Federation officials who wear rather stiff grey tunics worn with grey cloaks too - feeling a bit like the sort of outfits you'd see in Star Wars, honestly.

There are also Federation security officials who wear blue tunics with black and yellow lining adorning them in an asymmetrical fashion.

'Sarcophagus'

Avon is still wearing black, and this episode marks a development in Nicholas Rocker's design sense for the character that would stay for the rest of his tenure (and the whole series); studs. Avon's jumpsuit is fitted here with patches of silver studs over the sides, elbows and back, giving the character a slightly almost more warrior-like look, something that would get more pronounced with each ensuing costume.

Tarrant in this episode again sports an outfit rather out of line with his previous costumes, this one being a grey tunic with padded red lining around the shoulders, with red cuffs as well.

Dayna sports another jumpsuit, much more in line with her previous costumes, as this jumpsuit also has ruffles down the middle and back, with a sparkly blue strip going over the chest, as well as the chest being exposed.

Cally in this episode sports a rather formal uniform similar in design to the one she sported in the previous episode, this being a grey and black tunic fitted with silver lining seperatin the grey and black segments of it, as well as on the collar.

This was a particular odd episode, as it involved the Liberator more or less suffering an alien haunting the ship, making the crew have visions to being the various figures that presided over the long dead alien's funeral ritual, consisting of coloured hooded robes worn over spandex, with various masks worn with them.

When the ghost reveals itself, taking the form of Cally but wearing a wonderful dress of golden material over a green cape, with bone or coral like material adorning the shoulders.

'Ultraworld'

Avon sports an outfit that marks a departure from his now usual black colour scheme, instead opting for a studded brown tunic with shinier patches around the shoulders and cuffs - still rather remiscient in design to the black and silver costumes, but just in brown.

Tarrant sports an outfit folowing the same sort of motif as some of his previous deals with the slightly medieval feeling of the cut, as well as the greenish PVC-like material, but this one has ridged black triangular panels for the collar as well as openings for the sleeves too.

Dayna sports perhaps her best outfit in this whole series in my opinion, being a red and black jumpsuit with the red portion being a panel designed to go over the rest of it in a wraparound fashion - the cuffs are also in red and black alternating stripes, with each cuff having it in a different arrangement - one has it red on black, whilst the other has it black on red.

Cally sports perhaps one of her most stereotypically 'space age' costumes in the series, being a grey tunic and pants with red and black panelling over the cuffs and collar, with the collar panel going over the shoulders in a typical pointed fashion associated with the old space opera comics such as Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers.

The titular 'Ultraworld' is staffed by undead slaves who all wear short-sleeved blue jackets with padded white material around the shoulders and chest, worn with white trousers.

'Moloch'

This rather...unpleasant episode had Servalan arriving on the planet Sardos, under a deceitful Federation commander's distress call, wearing an admittedly nice dress of sparkly black fabric with silvery ridged panels over the shoulders, as well as around the waist too.

Sardos is populated entirely by women, all of whom are clad in mottled blue unitards worn with high heels and blue vests with golden strips showing the wearers rank or something to that effect.

'Death-Watch'

Avon sports perhaps one of the most infamous outfits in the show, the 'bullfighter' outfit. This outfit, as its nickname suggests, has large shoulder pads of grey and black, fitted on with studs, with a black vinyl strip going down the middle of the tunic with similar lining on the cuffs as well.

Tarrant meanwhile sports a more understated and rather crisp tunic of blue with white and silver lining, the tunic having a curved, sweeping cut to it as well as short sleeves showing the jumper underneath.

Cally meanwhile sports a rather cliched space age type outfit again, this being a yellow-lined red tunic and pants worn with brown boots - again a costume with a rather Buck Rogers vibe to it in a way, like a good deal of Rocker's costume designs for Cally this season.

Vila is dressed a bit more true to form, in a brown top with pale tan lining around the open collar, cuffs and belt.

The episode takes place on a planet that is more or less a duelling ground to settle interplanetary disputes, with the various civilians being in a variety of patterned tunics and jackets in various muted earth tones - most notably the golden-lined white vest worn by Tarrant's brother Deeta, the white and brown lined tunic worn by is opponent Vinni (Paul Mark Elliot) that was reworn by Dayna in the next series' episode 'Traitor', and the ridged brown tunic worn by Max (Stewart Bevan) that honestly reminds me a bit of the designs Robert Blackman made during his time on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Servalan appears in this episode as one of the judges for the context, alongside two other arbiters who sport white jumpsuits with large open collars and red lining down the sides.

For the actual duel, the combatants wear shiny silver jumpsuits fitted with the tradermark tubing and large shoulders, with Deeta's having black lining and Vinni's having red - very much a 'space age' sort of design, one which Rocker would revisit in the next episode...

'Terminal'

The last episode of the series, where Avon ends up indirectly stranding the crew on the titular artificial planet Terminal, also has perhaps Avon's most iconic costume even though he only wore it in this episode as well as the first episode of the next series! A black vest with silver and black vinyl trim, the trim also being lined with silver studs, worn with studded gloves and over a black vinyl vest with a silver arrow line going over the shoulders as well.

Tarrant also sports an outfit utilizing studded patches, though this consists of a red and black zip-up jacket adorned with large studded shoulder pads, worn with black trousers - again keeping in with the slight swashbuckler theme of Tarrant's character in contrast to Avon's more manipulative and cold one.

Servalan of course appears in this episode, wearing a lovely dress made of a print that resembles a galactic starfield almost with silver trim and an angular brooch holding one side of the dress up, with a trail of fabric on the front, which also forms a short cape-like garment from the back.

Of course, Servalan has some more guards with her, who are of course clad in garish 'space age' type designs very similar to the duellist uniforms from the previous episode 'Death-Watch' - here the red-lined silver jumpsuit has large red panels over the chest and shoulders, worn red and silver helmets (similar in design to the ones worn by Servalan's personal bodyguards in 'The Harvest of Kairos') coloured silver and red - at least they obscure these blond wigs!